Which rock group’s name was inspired by a sewing machine? The Saturday quiz

The questions

1 What, in Spain, is the world’s largest Renaissance building?
2 Which rock group’s name was inspired by a label on a sewing machine?
3 The body produces about 2 million what every second?
4 What is the only non-US team to win baseball’s World Series?
5 Who did Violet Gibson try to assassinate in Rome in 1926?
6 Financially, what rose from £85,000 to £120,000 in December 2025?
7 Which bird can dive to depths of more than 500m?
8 The Sonderbund civil war in 1847 was what country’s last military conflict?
What links:
9 Thorn; seat; shout; stew?
10 Nicole Kidman; Bruno Mars; Bette Midler; Jason Momoa; Barack Obama?
11 Circular orders; rectangular information; triangular warning?
12 Hannah Montana: The Movie; Lara Croft: Tomb Raider; On Golden Pond; Paper Moon?
13 Argentina; Mexico; New Zealand; Qatar; Senegal; Spain?
14 Black; brown; Philippine forest; Polynesian; ricefield?
15 John Flamsteed (1675) and Michele Dougherty (2025)?

Nonplussed by the Nicole Kidman clue? Photograph: Gilbert Flores/WWD/Getty Images

The answers

1 El Escorial.
2 AC/DC.
3 Red blood cells.
4 Toronto Blue Jays.
5 Benito Mussolini.
6 FSCS deposit protection limit.
7 Emperor penguin.
8 Switzerland.
9 Anagrams of compass points: N, E, S, W.
10 Born in Hawaii.
11 Shapes/functions of UK road signs.
12 Films starring real-life fathers and daughters: Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus; Angelina Jolie and Jon Voight; Jane and Henry Fonda; Tatum and Ryan O’Neal.
13 Current men’s continental football champions: Conmebol; Concacaf; OFC; AFC; Caf; Uefa.
14 Species of rat.
15 Astronomer royal: first and latest.